Well it's not often that I give Royal Caribbean credit for their generousity, but it seems they are making a relief effort in Haiti - even if  lacks altruism.  After all, they've just made a multi-million investment in expanding Labadee, their private (?) beach on the north coast of Haiti  so that their 5,000+ passenger vessel Oasis of the Seas can call there.  What's private about a small beach with  5,000 of your new best friends?  Sounds about as private as Coney Island.  Let's note that Labadee is on the other side of the mountain range, and nowhere near the earthquake zone.  Here's their press:

Royal Caribbean International is loading up earthquake relief supplies for Haiti on Independence of the Seas and intends to transport more supplies on other vessels stopping at its private island of Labadee, which is off the coast of Haiti. In his blog, Royal Caribbean pesident Adam Goldstein said the first relief supplies will be taken on Independence of the Seas to Labadee (the ship was already scheduled to call there - not like it's out of their way) and distributed through Food for the Poor.
“We are also in the process of coordinating additional relief supplies that will be loaded on Navigator of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, and will be taken to Labadee on Monday and Tuesday of next week,” (during their regularly scheduled calls there) Goldstein wrote. “The supplies we are sending include rice, dried beans, water, dried milk and a variety of other canned items. This effort is going to be a marathon, so we will be partnering with Food for the Poor on the back-end distribution in Haiti.”
Goldstein also wrote that  they are committed to continuing calls to Labadee with Independence of the Seas and other ships. “There were a lot of discussions about this, but in the end Labadee is critical to Haiti’s recovery and hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood,” he wrote. (What?  No mention of their recent heavy investment there.) “In our conversations with the U.N. Special Envoy of the Government of Haiti Leslie Voltaire, he notes that Haiti will benefit from the revenues that are generated from each call, which is critical to their recovery. We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti. Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most.”  (It would cost us money!)

Key Biscayne Boat Parade

The Key Biscayne Boat Parade is an annual holiday event (we celebrate a little differently down here in Miami) where boat owners decorate their boats with colored lights and invite friends and family to join them in a parade on the water into No Name Harbor and then into Hurricane Harbor and back to the Key Biscayne Yacht Club. There's a contest for the best decorated boat. This year I was lucky enough to be invited to join in the parade on the Sea Miner, owned by Chris and Doug Biggers. It's not the kind of cruise I can sell (if only!), but it's another excuse to get out on the water and if you know me you know I don't turn down an offer like that!


The food is always wonderful, you can't help but have fun on a boat (any boat!), and the display of lights is always beautiful. I didn't get great shots with my little "point and shoot" Kodak, but I think you'll get the picture - all puns intended!

Here's a reindeer leading the way ... in this case Santa is flying a yacht instead of a sleigh, but I think he uses whatever works in the part of the world he's visiting.











This shot is a little blurry, but when the boat is rocking it's sometimes the best you can do!












The boats aren't the only things that get lit up, but most of the drinking takes place back on shore when the boats are safely docked. It's a very community and family oriented event, and the party goes on until the last reindeer drops.

I think the cruise ships should have a holiday lighting competition! Wouldn't THAT be something to see??!!

Oasis of the Seas Score a Big Hit

Well the reviews are in on Oasis of the Seas and they are almost unanimously enthusiastic for this "new breed" of ship. You might think of it as a cruise ship on steroids based on it's pure size. And yes, size does have something to do with it, but there's so much that Royal Caribbean put in to fill all that new space! Friends just back from the inaugural couldn't say enough good things about this ship - from the Central Park area, to the boardwalk, ice shows, stores, aquatheater, zip line and more. According to my friend Staci (who is also with my parent company, Cruise Planners) it's kind of like a cross between Disney World and Las Vegas, with lots and lots to offer almost every age group.



To get an idea of the magnitude of this vessel, take a look at it coming into Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) . Just its size in comparison to the tow boats saluting it is staggering. Kind of makes you think of King Kong and Fay Ray, huh?


The ship is 220,000 or so tons (twice the tonnage of most modern cruise ships) of innovation, engineering and creativity. Once you get over the sheer size and have been able to pick your jaw up off the floor, then you can spend an entire week just adding in the add ins - ice shows, merry-go-round, rising tide bar (it rises several decks as you sit and stir your mojito), water ballet shows, diving exhibitions, rock climbing wall, flow rider surfing, water park, ultra-chic restaurants (as per Staci "150 Central Park" rivals almost any New York eatery) and let's just say that the only thing it doesn't appear to have is its own zip code!

Pricing on the Oasis of the Seas is high for a mass market cruise line at an average of about $150per night - as it must be considering all that the ship has to offer. The selection of activities to participate in on any given day is enough to fill a combined issue of Martha Stewart and Health & Fitness magazines, the varieties of cuisine rival those of major metropolitan areas and the experience of sailing on the world's biggest ship will leave you searching for superlatives.

If you don't like big ships, this is definitely not the ship for you. If you have mobility issues, this may present an inordinate challenge. And as with anything that caters to thousands of people at one time you can expect that there will be lines at certain times and in certain venues.

But if you want to be absolutely bowled over, get on this ship, it definitely provides the WOW!

Home Again

No chocolates on my pillow when I went to bed last night. No cheery greeting from my room steward when I got up this morning. No bacon, french toast, sausages, fresh fruit or pastries for breakfast. Just me, a protein bar and a Diet Coke (don't shudder).

The harsh blow of reality has set in, now I'm up to my ears - and getting deeper still - in paperwork, booking revisions and catching up on all the things I so happily left behind two and a half weeks ago. I WANT TO GO BACK!

Very interesting passenger on my plane from Charlotte to Miami. He (I think it was a he), was seated in first class, dressed in denim short shorts, bare midriff muscle top (red), red thong underwear (clearly visible above the waistband of the short shorts) and red 3-inch heel pumps. Short blond hair, big muscles.

Makes me glad that first class is not in my budget range!!

Thought I had taken pictures (in my uncannily discreet way) but was using the camera feature in my cell phone and I guess I didn't save them. Shoot, he might have liked some of those weird souvenirs I found - probably has just the place to put them!

Back to the grind, I miss the ship and my "shippies", hell I even miss the gym!

BTW, these are coffee filters (did anybody guess?)!

Heading for L.A.

The saddest day of the cruise. Everyone’s luggage is being put outside cabin doors for pickup, people are saying goodbye, time to pack up and go. So far everything is fitting in my suitcase, I’m worried about one item breaking, but I just can’t carry it in my tote bag. My suitcase won’t go out until I go to bed tonight, because I want to put my workout clothes in it. (And I’m going to the GD gym one last time – that fulfills the goal I set on day one). Am proud to report that my clothing all seems to fit just fine, and I don’t need to wear something with an elastic waist home. The bloody gym was worth every last moment of drudgery.

I would do the whole cruise again in a heart beat! One of the stewards has offered to hide me in his cabin so I can stay on board. Tempting, but common sense is prevailing. In the back of my head however I’m already trying to figure out how I can go on another cruise sooner rather than later. The future cruise sales office has been busy all day – Jo Ann (the manager) has had her hands full. Don’t expect I’ll see her in the gym tonight!

Put 91 Christmas cards in the mail, trying to get a few more done. Wavering over whether to buy one last photo or not.

Okay, this wasn’t a souvenir, but something (you’ll be glad) I saved to the end to share. Pamela and I saw this on a back street of Acapulco – yuck! Mothers spare your children!

Cabo Fab-o!

No blog yesterday, wonder if anybody missed me?

Cabo San Lucas is lovely! Took a boat ride over to “Los Arcos” (The Arches), one of the few monuments or sites I’ve been to in about two weeks now that isn’t named after a Saint (although Cabo San Lucas means Cape St. Luke). The rock formations are lovely and I did get to dip my toes in the Sea of Cortez, so now I can cross both that and Acapulco Bay off my list of oceans, bays, seas and other large bodies of water that I’ve dipped my toes in! The Sapphire Princess was also in port and I got a shot of both ships at anchor.

Silver jewelry has been everywhere the last few stops, and I’ve taken great advantage of it. I’m starting to look like a moving silver bracelet shop. But then I saw something made of gold today that was also worth looking at, so I got up close and personal:

The beauty of Cabo is in it’s location, and it hasn’t yet been spoiled by hundreds of high rises along the water line (like Acapulco, Miami Beach and Honolulu). When you see large construction projects going on in a place like this you just want to weep – it’s the beginning of the end.

What a strange coincidence we turned up last night at dinner! I was sitting with my friends Peter and Pamela (from New Zealand) and Peter and I were speaking about family names (he was teasing me about being so Irish). I’m proud of it and told him my mother was a Brady, my grandmother was a Connelly, etc. Turns out HIS mother was a Brady too and both of our families came from County Cork, Ireland. So now I’m calling him Cousin Peter! How’s that for the six degrees of separation theory?

And finally, the off beat souvenir of the day (can’t wait until my brothers and sisters open their Christmas gifts after this trip)!

I’m up to about 92 Christmas cards written, have one more full day on the ship. Think I’ll get all the ones I brought finished?

Sea you later! Only two more days left of this #$%@ gym!

Dive in to Acapulco!

Today my friends Pamela and Peter and I got a ride from the ship up to La Quebrada, by convincing one of the silver stores in the port that we wanted to shop in their main store (they’ll drive you up for free if you’re live bait). Pamela and I each bought some earrings to ease the guilt.

La Quebrada is where the famous cliff divers leap off high cliffs to the narrow inlet below. At least they hope they’re leaping into the narrow inlet, and not into the jagged rocks that are only a misstep away. I noticed a shrine to the Virgin Mary up at the top (where the highest divers fly off) and I saw at least one of the divers cross himself and say a little prayer before jumping. The guys we watched were just jumping (which is far more than I would do, even if unduly influenced by tequila or whatever else it is that influences them). We didn’t stick around for the “main show’ at 1 PM. I don’t know if any of them have ever gone splat, and I don’t want to be the one to see it if it ever does happen. Besides, there was the lure of more shopping.

Followed Pam and Peter through lots of back streets – we figured that if we just kept heading down hill we’d eventually find the beach. And we found the markets along the way. They were a bit disappointing so total souvenir shopping turned out just to be the earrings. That’s a GOOD thing.

On to the beach. As with the hotels in Huatulco, they were pretty empty. The beach vendors were as thick as mosquitoes with shell jewelry, silver (real?), sarongs, hammocks, ice cream, t-shirts, cover ups, sand buckets, inflatable rafts, etc. They are all going begging for business. If you have any interest in visiting Mexico, this is the time to go. Prices are rock bottom and there’s lots of space to enjoy a nice quiet day at the beach. Just learn how to say “afuerate” (go away) to the beach vendors.

Left Pam and Peter soaking up the sun and walked on to Fuerte San Diego, a star-shaped fort that was built after the previous fort was destroyed by an earthquake in 1776. While this isn’t much of a “tourist” shot, it’s from inside the walls of the fort and Pamela thinks I should enter it in the photo contest. I loved the lines. The fort houses a disappointing museum, in which most of the rooms were “closed for restoration”. Oh well.




Fortuitously arrived back at the ship in time for the pool volleyball game, and here you see me with my silver medal as my team came in second! Atta girl! That’s the Assistant Cruise Director who gave me my award. I’m going for the gold next competition!







Not to worry, I did find a Weird Souvenir of the Day – here they are, plastic beach sandals, right next to the imitation crocs:




















I’m off to the GD gym, even though I walked for about 4 hours today – in the heat!! Tomorrow’s a sea day, I’ll be writing Christmas Cards (I’m up to 74).

Sea you!

Viva Hualtuco!

If you like sleepy little Mexican towns, Hualtuco is your paradise! Like Costa Maya over on the Yucatan Peninsula, Hualtuco is being developed as a resort destination by the Ministry of Tourism, and it really is a nice location. There are seven bays – one right after the other - with clean, sandy beaches and nice warm Pacific waters. You can walk from one to the next if you’re ambitious and good a rock climbing.

The town itself is very clean, prices are terrific (I got a bottle of Diet Coke and a pair of nylons for less than two dollars) and traffic is light. Like the rest of Mexico (from what I’ve read in the trades) the town is hurting for tourists. Mexico has taken a double whammy this year from Swine Flu and from violent crime in some of the northwestern states. I walked from the port to the little town of La Crucecita, about a mile each way, and passed at least a dozen nearly empty looking hotels. Chairs piled on top of tables, nobody in the pools, kind of an abandoned look. I’m hoping the tourists will come back soon, this is definitely a nice little hideaway! Lacks any major monuments, ancient ruins, monasteries or sunken treasures, but the sun, the beaches and the prices are right; the natives seemed very friendly. This guard even lowered his rifle to take a picture with me! (Don't like the photo of me, so I'm making it small!)

That’s about all there is to Huatulco, except of course for some unusual souvenirs. There were several to choose from, but I’m going with Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. I have no idea what this has to do with Mexico, let alone Hualtuco. The really scary part is that when I walked back past this shop the wolf was no longer there.

I guess there’s a souvenir for every taste and budget!

Think I can count the two miles walked to wards my 45 minute gym requirement? Not if it was done in a dress? Damn. Alright, I’m going - but only because they just returned my laundry which had all of my socks in it. As a Princess “Commodore” level agent you get free laundry! Whooooeeeee! First time someone’s done my laundry – AND ironed my clothes – in years ... I’m staying!!!!!!

Sea Day Today

A sea day today, time to catch up with some e-mails and write some more Christmas cards – I’ve gotten 62 done so far, not quite half the number I brought with me and we’re down to the last few days of the voyage. Set up shop in the Wheelhouse Bar with laptop, pen & cards, and spent about 20% of the time answering the question “Are you REALLY writing your Christmas cards?” from my fellow passengers. They were in awe of me. In fact, maybe I’m a little bit in awe of me. No, never mind, can’t get a swelled head over Christmas cards.

Another 20% of the time was chatting with the Assistant Cruise Director. But I was still ambitious and wrote through the Veteran’s meeting, the Pictionary game (Princess calls it “Win, Lose or Draw”), and the afternoon Trivia Challenge. Definitely have a low grade case of writer’s cramp - am going to have to make the messages shorter unless I want to bring half of these cards back home with me. I DON'T plan to have room for them in my suitcase!

During this sailing I’ve added another talent to my skill set! If you should find yourself some day in desperate (and I DO mean desperate) need of a tropical bouquet I now know how to make hibiscus flowers from crepe paper. I’m not sure how much use I’ll get out of this or if it would be helpful in a lifeboat, but if you need a crepe paper hibiscus flower I’m currently the “go to girl”! Send in your orders early!


Since we were at sea today there were no really strange souvenirs. Here is yesterday’s runner up. Can you tell me what room in the house it belongs in?



I hear a treadmill calling my name.

Sea you later!

Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica

Happy Halloween and welcome to Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica! In Costa Rica if anyone asks you how you are, you’re supposed to reply “Pura Vida!” (loosely translated = Full of Life!)

Today was Dorothy & the Volcano. Unfortunately when you ask others to take your picture you just don’t know what you’re going to get. Here’s me, but you can’t really see the volcano.

Here’s the volcano, which was very neat – at least for someone who is a total novice to volcanoes. Poas Volcano has (according to our guide) the largest crater of any active volcano in the world. I’m going to have to Google this when I get back home, because he also says that Costa Rica has the best coffee in the world and the best pineapples in the world. That makes three countries I’ve been to that claim to have the best coffee and the best pineapples in the world – Jamaica, Colombia and Costa Rica. Hmmmm…

The volcano is not actively erupting, just steaming. Arenal Volcano, which is actively erupting was another tour option, but it was even longer than this tour (9 hrs.) and I’m not a big fan of large group trips. It was also more expensive. Heck, volcanoes have been around for a few thousand years, I’m betting there will still be some active volcanoes next time I feel like visiting one, and then I’ll go for broke. Costa Rica has 112 volcanoes, but only seven of them are active. The country has between 3,000 and 5,000 earthquakes per year (I’m checking that one too), but 99.something percent are too small to feel.

Being a native low-lander it didn’t occur to me to bring a jacket when I was going on tour in a tropical country. However the volcano is at about 9,000 feet above sea level and in a cloud forest. DUH! My New Yorker turned Floridian blood wasn’t thick enough for that, so I hope you like this lovely new jacket I’m wearing in the photo! It’s now a treasured souvenir. Eat your hearts out.

We also stopped in Sarchi, home of the largest ox cart in the world. Largest ox cart? Yup. Little did I imagine the wonders I’d be seeing when I set out to cross the Panama Canal! There were thousands of ox cart souvenirs at all the stops, but I resisted every single temptation. My family and friends will probably be happy that I did – maybe not. Anyway, nobody is getting an ox cart for Christmas. Sorry if you’re disappointed.

Let’s not forget the weird souvenir of the day – a purse made entirely out of candy bar wrappers! Remember those chains we used to make from gum wrappers? The Costa Ricans have expanded on the idea. This could have been mine for about $28 – tempting!!

There was a runner up for weird souvenir of the day, but if I don’t find anything weird tomorrow I’ll use today’s runner up.

Northward bound for Mexico! Oh crap, I forgot about the gym. Off to the g--y--m (bleah) … sea you later.

BTW, this was NOT our bus, but it's definitely sporty looking!